In the winter of October 1999, as part of a programme of ICSF, three persons converged on the Treasure Guest House in Accra, Ghana. They came from three very distinct parts of the world, each bringing along a different baggage of culture and upbringing. What they shared, however, was a...

The rising world population is increasing the pressure on agriculture to produce more food. This is more so for the African continent, where it is not just about food supply, but also a critical factor in economic development, poverty alleviation and improving living standards especially in rural areas. On the...

Fisheries, and in particular, the artisanal fisheries sector, is a vital source of livelihood for the communities that live along the approximately 4,545 km long coastline of West Africa. There are around 1.8 Million people, mostly women, directly engaged in processing and marketing fish in the region. Nonetheless, despite the...

Pour les populations qui vivent sur les cotes d'Afrique de I'Ouest, longues de 4545km, la peche, tout particulierement la peche artisanale, est une activite vitale. Envirom 1.8 million de personnes, surtout des femmes, transforment et vendent le poisson. Ce secteur dynamique est toutefois confronte a de nombreux problems et les...

A long-standing demand of the women of fishing communities in the region has been towards enhancing regional fish trade. It is against this background that the Workshop on Problems and Prospects for Developing  Artisanal Fish Trade in West Africa was organized from 30 May to 1 June 2001,  followed by...

The first half of the twentieth century witnessed profound changes in smallholder agriculture in many parts of Africa. There was a rapid spread of exotic staple food crops such as maize, cassava and sweet potatoes. In many cases the adoption of these crops led to increases in productivity as they...

The paper traces the historical emergence of subsistence farming as stemming from the colonial period when a more commercial agriculture was replaced by an export-oriented agricultural trade in introduced crops, such as coffee and tea, whose production and marketing was restricted to colonial farmers. The paper goes on to lay...

This video provides an overview of the issues involved, and highlights many of the concerns of the actors in the sector. It also reports briefly on the workshop on Problems and Prospects for Developing Artisanal Fish Trade in West Africa and the West African Fair for Artisanally Processed Fish held...

An estimated 500 million small farmers – men and women – produce most of the developing world’s food. Yet their families suffer more hunger than even the urban poor, have higher rates of poverty and enjoy less access to basic social services. Meeting international commitments to halve hunger and poverty...

This report is a review of irrigation technologies for smallholders in the context of improving rural livelihoods, especially in regard to the prospects for sub-Saharan Africa. The role of traditional technologies is evaluated and modern water distribution technologies, such as sprinkler and trickle irrigation, are reviewed. Low-cost irrigation systems, including...

Smallholder irrigation development has shown throughout the developing world that it can be used as a key drought mitigation measure and as a vehicle for the long-term agricultural and macro-economic development of a country. Successful smallholder irrigation schemes can result in increased productivity, improved incomes and nutrition, employment creation, food...

In this issue, we conclude with the last two presentations of our local partners with a description of CREDIF, covering North Africa, and of POSDEV, covering a number of countries in West Africa. Ruth Ochieng, from Isis-WICCE in Uganda, presents the work undertaken by her organisation, which strives to empower...

In the present issue, a large proportion of the columns will be been devoted to the Reflection and Self-Evaluation Workshop held in Brussels on 16-18 October with the partners of the Dimitra Project. We hand over to the partners, who have drawn up two documents on the proceedings of the...

In South Africa the racial and agricultural policies aimed at national food self-sufficiency created an agricultural structure dominated by large, mechanised farms that are owned and operated by a small number of individuals or companies. New agricultural policy should therefore focus more on peasant farming in the subsistence sector in...

This publication is intended to inform IFAD-supported project management units (PMUs), other donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Eastern and Southern Africa about IFAD’s Gender Strengthening Programme in the region. The programme is currently in the process of identifying challenges faced by projects, emphasizing empirical findings from field diagnostic...

These days, many credit and savings activities, including those under IFAD-supported projects, target rural women. A 2000 FAO/IFAD study in Uganda highlights the role of microfinance in women’s empowerment. Two questions asked were: (1) Is it appropriate and efficient to provide credit lines exclusively for women? (2) Are women in...

FAO is organising a High Level Consultation in Rome from 4 to 6 October with a view to improving information for decision-makers, the media and the public at large on the essential role of rural women in agricultural development and their contribution to food security. Emphasis will be laid on...

Identification of environmentally-sound options for agricultural resource management is necessary to obtain food security for smallhold farming communities in Uganda. Qualitative and quantitative appraisals were conducted in Bukoto county, Masaka district to assess the socioeconomic and biophysical status of the banana and coffee farming system. Three main hypotheses were tested:...

The main objective of this study was to describe the importance of cob rots in farmers' maize fields and reduced food quality through spoilage. During the 1997/98 season disease incidence and severity levels were evaluated in the Local, MH18, NSCM41, and NSCM51 varieties on farmers' maize from two villages in...

Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) is an important strategy for soil improvement in smallholder systems of East Africa but successful implementation depends upon identification of opportunities for intervention, which are in turn dependent upon a practical knowledge of farm enterprises and decision making. Surveys addressing soil fertility management were conducted among...